it's up to you to be you.

Those of you who know me, or who have followed along here, know that I really love my Saturday morning walks and hikes, whether it’s at my hometown farmer’s market or on the ocean trails. I just find it very cleansing, because when I’m on my own I just get lost in thought and lost in nature; and if I’m with friends I get lost in good conversation and lost in nature. It’s the good kind of lost, where you just keep going, keep wandering, not really paying attention to where the road is taking you, but somehow you always find yourself. Today I explored some new trails near my new home, I just walked and walked, and I didn’t feel like stopping so I kept walking. I know, very Forrest Gump, but I didn’t walk as long as he did, because I got hungry. There were times when I might as well have been literally lost, because I had no idea where I was, but I couldn’t ever be totally lost, because all I had to do was follow the trails. Actually, I felt a little bit like Dorothy wandering through Oz, except instead of a yellow brick road, it was just a brown dirt road. It was so nice though. It was possibly the most forresty place I’ve ever wandered. Hiking is as naturey as I get, because I get to go home afterwards and shower. My friends laugh when they picture me camping, because it’s just not happening. I don’t quite favor bugs and not showering…so of course, I moved to the south. Ha. A couple times I thought I saw snakes on the trail, but they were just tree roots. I did see a pair of turkeys, and a couple of times I wondered if a bear might cross my path. Although, I don’t know if there are actually any bears in that area. I don’t know, I’m from California, and there are bears and coyotes and mountain lions in the mountains…so yeah. It was a lovely walk. The weather has cooled, the leaves are starting to turn, and watching them fall was like watching bliss fall over the earth. And even though there’s no ocean, and I don’t get to get high off of ocean breeze, I found the lake to be quite calming, too. I think I’ll always favor the ocean though, because that’s my first home and where my roots are. But now I have another home. God has been so very kind to me, in that I can and have been able to go to so many different places and build a home in each of those places. It’s like I get to leave a piece of my heart in each of those places, and take a piece of each city and town into my heart. There’s just a lot of love going in and out of me. Can’t you tell? Hehe. Sometimes moving away can be sad, but I never feel sad, because I never feel like I’m saying goodbye to anything or anyone. Well, whenever I leave Europe I might get a little sad, but only because the food is incomparable and I don’t have to worry about processed foods and high fructose corn syrup there. Of course, then I just enjoy it that much more every time I return. So you see, goodbyes are sad, but new adventures are not. And I don’t say goodbye. I’ve said it once, and I meant it. But it wasn’t sad. It was good riddance. Anyways…it’s all perspective isn’t it? And I’m at a place in my life where I know I have the unwavering love of very special people, and it’s the kind of love that will always bring me home, wherever in the world I am. When I’m scared, I just remember that. Whether I’m hiking ocean trails at home in SoCal, wandering in forests in Tennessee, or scaling cliffs in Cinque Terre, there are always new trails to blaze and explore, but I’m never far from home, because you know how they say, “home is where the heart is”? I believe that. And my heart never moves. It’s always in the left side of my chest. (I’m totally laughing at my own joke right now…you know you are, too.) But yeah, a new home is just another home, and another place to spread the love. And another place to find more awesome trails. BIG LOVE & HUGS Love, Justine